Six Seasons

“The Six Seasons artwork represents our connection to country through identifying the six Indigenous seasons. Learning and understanding how to protect Country is by observing the celestial movements, animal behaviour and flowering of plants to conserve habitat for future generations.

We are proud of our culture and the artwork we have created, it represents our ancestors, our community, and the importance of future shared learning.”

The artwork is a freestanding Corten steel mural, laser cut with images depicting the Six Seasons of the Peek Whurrong people.

The artwork is a replication of the original which was designed by Warrnambool College Indigenous students, in collaboration with Indigenous artists Sherry Johnstone and Mel Steffensen, and digitised by Anthea Rafferty (Warrnambool College teacher).

Anthea led the collaboration between the Architecture students, students from the Indigenous Academies, Clontarf and Kalay (now Stars) and Grasmere PS to develop the Living Classroom Project which involved planting two Indigenous gardens, one edible as an alternative education model to engage students at risk of disengagement. The centrepiece of the gardens at Warrnambool College is the original Six Seasons artwork.   “The garden and artwork depicting the six Indigenous seasons has provided an opportunity for Indigenous students to see their culture, their storylines, and their people, in the heart of their school”, and now in their local community.

The replication of the artwork was led by Leadership Great South Coast (LGSC) 2024 Community Leadership Program participants, in collaboration with the students artists and staff at Warrnambool College, Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, Warrnambool City Council and Friends of Swan Reserve.

The LGSC project team, Sarah Bubb-Dempster, Rebecca Faris, Jarrod Woolley and Ryan Delony, worked closely with the students, artists, local Indigenous groups and community to bring the project to reality with the aim of increasing awareness of local Indigenous culture and celebrating the creativity of the young Indigenous students.

The project was supported by Leadership Great South Coast, Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, Regional Arts Victoria, The A.L Lane Foundation, The Hugh D.T Williamson Foundation and Fletcher Jones Family Foundations, with in kind support from Warrnambool College, Warrnambool City Council and Friends of Swan Reserve.